Fresh mind & body … I hate exercise

I loathe exercise. Have I mentioned it before? Well I do, always have. The very idea of it makes me cringe & maintaining a routine when I do occasionally get myself moving is a massive effort for me. Honestly, I feel exhausted just at the thought of words like ‘cardio’ & ‘strength training’. Oh & just watch me roll my eyes at the mere mention of ‘endorphin rush’. Exercise hurts, it make me go all beetroot red, sweat, smell & jiggle in all the wrong places. Then by the time it is over, I feel like vomiting & passing out.

Nothing about that makes me feel energised & enthusiastic to do it over & over again. Quite the opposite in fact – it just convinces me that I want to sit back down & eat more ice cream. Now there’s an activity I can (& too often do) truly get excited about!

So I ask myself, for about the thousandth time in the last few days, why have I just signed myself up to go to the frickin’ gym!?!?!?!

(Image Source)(Holy heck … I thought contraptions like these were only found in a gyno’s office or labour ward!!)

It’s no secret that I have struggled with weight control, from childhood right through. I love food, but I am not naturally athletic or energetic. Even as a child, my mother says I much preferred to sit & read, rather than run around & play games. This was likely a combination of being incredibly shy & tragically uncoordinated. After several embarrassing stumbling / tumbling, flashing my undies for all to see type incidents, I think I decided it was better to avoid activity, especially the group kind wherever possible!

The yo-yo dieting started in my teens, after years of teasing & emotional eating, I have hit rock bottom physically &/or psychologically & looked for the quickest way out. I have been on the Ginseng Diet, the Soup Diet, Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers & Tony Ferguson – just to name a few. I have tried pills & potions, herbs & spices, patches & powders.

There have also been times where I have been a gym & swim junkie, worked my Hips, Thighs & Buttocks with Denise Austin – minus the leotard, Tae Boed it with Billy Blanks & Flash Danced it (badly) like a fiend – minus the leotard & leg warmers, (well ok, maybe there were leg warmers involved). All done begrudgingly, all successful … all only for a short while.

Fast forward a couple of decades & nothing much has changed. My eating & exercising habits wax & wane depending on my emotional state & my health improves & declines accordingly. You would think that at 42 I would have learned balance & moderation, but sadly, I am very much still a work in progress in that regard. I am currently at a place in my life where I am filled with frustration & disappointment at the state of my fitness & shape of my body. Moreover, I know my health is at risk & that is unacceptable.

In order to live long enough to see my children into adulthood & (hopefully) play with my grandchildren, I need to change my focus, attitude & hold myself accountable for my health & happiness. I signed on the dotted line with my local Contours Gym where apparently the current affirmation is, ‘One life, one body … no excuses’. Did I mention I dislike affirmations? They always make me feel lazy & apathetic (& just a little cynical). It might be true, but I don’t have to like or embrace it!

As I am fully aware that I have a horrendous track record of sticking to anything like this, I have, of course, decided to blog about it. What could possibly go wrong!?!

I intend to document my progress in a new series called ‘Fresh Mind & Body’. I suspect that, at times, this will not be the most inspired or upbeat record of events – like I said – I hate exercise & I really, really hate going to the gym – but one does what one must. If nothing else though, I do hope that by writing things down, it helps to keep me on track, gives me a space to express my feelings about progress, good, bad or otherwise & most importantly, to keep it real. I tend to overlook the small actual stuff in preference for wishing for unattainable big stuff, which sometimes leads me to a place of melancholy & bitterness . I want to learn to stop, appreciate & accept the small actual stuff & hopefully myself in kind. That would be nice.

Wish me luck!!

Oh, I will also keep on getting recipes up as often as I can! That is after all, why I came here in the first place!

Comments

Oh Jodie! I’m so happy for you for signing up to the gym. I’ve been on a fitness journey myself (consistently) since August last year and am seeing results. I did however always like working out and playing sport. It was only meeting my waste of a time ex husband and having children that put the weight on. I’ve been blogging about my journey and Facebooking as well at F.I.T. BMS. I haven’t been weighed or measured yet but will do soon. You can do it. I’ll be watching with interest to see how you’re going. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself. Keep that thought of being around for your babies foremost in your mind and you’ll do it. I know you can.

Gorgeous you can stick to it and if you don’t, have a break then get back on the treadmill again. I’m hoping to lose some kilos after I have this baby in July. It’s crap how much harder it is to lose weight as you get older. X

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Since being diagnosed with IBS coupled with symptomatic malabsorption of gluten and lactose, I have made it my mission to find ways to turn my old favourite recipes into new 'free from' ones I can digest and the whole family can cook, eat and enjoy!

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